Officer shootings emphasize risk

Police in South Bend have a 'dangerous job.'

Police in South Bend have a 'dangerous job.'

April 23, 2006|PATRICK M. O'CONNELL Tribune Staff Writer

Ray Wolfenbarger, a South Bend police officer who was seriously injured and nearly killed when a suspect opened fire during a 2001 traffic stop, said officer shootings magnify the risk involved in daily police work. "It should open everyone's eyes," Wolfenbarger said. "But unfortunately, usually it doesn't. People don't realize this is a dangerous job. Each and every one of us who gets into this job knows that and knows the risk involved." Every shooting involving a police officer, whether in the area or nationwide, is difficult for Wolfenbarger and his family. "Any time I hear of a fallen officer, I automatically refer back to me," Wolfenbarger said. "I feel bad for my wife, when I hear about our guys or in Mishawaka when it happened there, because it throws it back to that night and everything she went through. It definitely takes its toll." Mishawaka police officers Thomas Roberts and Bryan S. Verkler were killed in the line of duty Dec. 13, 2003. The last South Bend police officer seriously injured by a shooting suspect was Patrolman Billy Pelletier, who suffered an arm injury April 25, 2005, as he confronted a man inside a house at 1406 E. Donald St. "It certainly seems like there are more officer-involved shootings" in recent years, said South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent. "I don't know what the diagnosis is. ... We're seeing people that are willing to use more violence on the police."